Emmanuel Macron lures top U.S. climate scientists fleeing from Trump research cuts

In the name of furthering climate research (and trolling Donald Trump), French President Emmanuel Macron awarded "Make Our Planet Great Again" grants to 18 climate scientists, 13 of whom are from the United States.

On Monday, in preparation for the "One Planet Summit" — a meeting in which international world leaders gather to discuss global climate initiatives — the French president awarded the grants, which were announced right after Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement in June.

As Trump appears to turn a blind eye to the importance of taking action against climate change, the grants offer recipients around $1.8 million in funds to conduct their research in France over the next three to five years, NPR reports.

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Since taking office, Trump's administration has made several major anti-science moves, which makes Macron's grants, the majority of which were given to American-based researchers, even more significant.

In addition to isolating the country from the Paris Agreement, Trump has proposed serious budget cuts for agencies that work on climate change, such as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Science Foundation (NSF), and even the Energy Department.

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Trump also currently lacks a top science advisor, and one of the State Department's science envoys — Daniel M. Kammen — resigned in August, possibly calling for the president's impeachment with a hidden acrostic.

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Macron thanked the recipients for their dedication and shared his excitement for boosting future research efforts.

Some truly notable scientists are included, such as University of Texas at Austin's Camille Parmesan. She is an expert in how species are responding to changing temperature and precipitation patterns.

Parmesan told the Associated Press she's thrilled to be going to France and feels those seeking funding for climate science research in the U.S. "are having to hide" what they do.

As theWashington Postnoted, other recipients include Louis A. Derry, a professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences at Cornell University; Núria Teixidó Ullod, a visiting scientist at Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford University; and Alessandra Giannini, a professor at Columbia University’s Earth Institute, to name a few.

Macron will work with Germany to distribute the next round of grants.

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